Apollon Wealth Management LLC Has $3.08 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 46.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,818 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,227 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $121.79. 1,070,110 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,786,053. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a market capitalization of $43.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $121.42 and a 200 day moving average of $120.44.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.56%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.